This invention relates to methods for the diagnosis and staging of the severity of dementia using motor and/or psychomotor testing. It employs computerized tests of motor function that are sensitive to very mild levels of non-motor cognitive decline in the elderly.
Dementia is diagnosed and staged by clinical assessment of cognitive and functional capacity. Typical global clinical staging measures are the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS; Reisberg, B., Ferris. S. H., de Leon M. J. and Cook, T., 1982), the Blessed Dementia Scale and Information-Memory-Concentration Test (Blessed, G. Tomlinson B. E., and Roth M., 1968) and the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) (Rosen W., Mohs, R. and Davis, K., 1984). There are also mental status assessments such as the Mini Mental State (Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. and McHugh, P. R., 1975), and various psychological tests such as the Guild Memory Test (Gilbert, J. G. and Levee, R. F., 1971), and the Boston Naming Test (Goodglass, H., Kaplan, E. and Weintraub, S., 1976).
All of these measurements are of limited utility in part because they depend upon the educational attainment and intelligence level of the subject for early diagnosis.